Communication and Delegation with your Virtual Assistant

With so many methods for communication available to us it is easy to allow these devices, intended to make communicating easier, rule our lives and eat away at our efficiency.

Any Virtual Assistant with multiple clients will likely not be sitting in her email all day waiting and watching for new emails to arrive as she likely has scheduled out her day and works on projects for up to several hours at a time. And believe it or not there are some people (gasp!) who do not get emails to our phones so if we are out of the office we will have no way of knowing emails have arrived until we are back in our offices.

Therefore, as you begin working with a Virtual Assistant one of the most important things you can discuss is your preferred method of contact as well as her preferred method of contact. In order to prevent miscommunications you will want to address if those methods change on “regular” work vs. “emergency” work.

How we communicate affects how we delegate

When you write emails are they long and detailed or are they short and sweet? What is your preferred style when you receive emails; detailed, Step by Step descriptions or do you prefer a brief recap?

Determining your preferences as well as the preferences of your Virtual Assistant will prove to be beneficial as you continue working together as often those who prefer the short and sweet version are frustrated or overwhelmed if they get detailed, Step by Step emails.

Together you and your Virtual Assistant should determine how often to communicate after a task is delegated. Such as: How do you handle questions as they arise? If the project is multi-step how often do you want your Virtual Assistant to check in with a progress report?

When delegating a task it is always helpful for your Virtual Assistant to know:

1. The deadline – how soon do you need this work completed?

2. If this is a multi-phase project – how many phases are anticipated?

Example:

a. Research

b. Research reviewed and modified

c. Final research will be put into a PowerPoint presentation

d. PPT slides turned into PDF handouts

3. How long you expect the project to take or how long you want her to spend on it – this is especially helpful on research projects.

Here are just some of the many ways that small business owners can communicate with and delegate to their Virtual Assistants:

• Email

• Texting

• Fax

• Skype, Google chat and other instant messaging platforms

• Phone

• Project Management software programs such as BaseCamp, TeamBox, etc.

• Google Documents (though I am only aware that the spreadsheets will send notifications of changes made)

Armed with this knowledge you will both have a better working relationship and the likelihood of any problems will be eliminated.

About the Author:
Michelle Mangen is the owner of Your Virtual Assistant, a virtual assistant business that specializes in social media marketing, bookkeeping, Excel, Aweber, Wordpress management and more.
Visit Michelle’s website at: www.thevirtualasst.com
Follow Michelle on Twitter: @mmangen

Listen to Episode 38 to hear Darlene’s interview with Michelle.